3 face judge in delivery-driver assault

Police say 1 suspect confessed to attack

Three people charged in the beating of a delivery driver for a Chinese restaurant appeared in court on Wednesday, with at least one of them insisting as she left the courthouse that she had nothing to do with it.

Brandy Locke, James Hollis and Luis Reyes were arrested this week, days after the attack in Independence last Friday night.

Police said Locke ordered Chinese food so that Hollis, her boyfriend, and Reyes, his friend, could take the food and money from the driver.

"We're innocent. We're innocent," Locke said. She said she didn't make any calls.

According to court documents, Hollis told police that Locke did call to order food. He also told police that Reyes hit the driver at least five times with a baseball bat.

Hollis did not answer questions from reporters Wednesday.

Reyes said people in the case aren't telling the truth.

"They lied to you all," he said.

The driver has life-threatening injuries and an investigator told the judge Wednesday that he isn't doing well. People at the Mandarin House restaurant where he worked said they were deeply saddened by what happened to him. They said he had worked at the restaurant for about seven years.

Evelyn Miller said she's been on pins and needles since the attack happened in her neighborhood.

"This is real shocking and I'm sure glad they caught them," she said. "As far as I know, none of the neighbors up here (saw) anything or heard anything."

She said if the police account of what happened is true, she wants all three people prosecuted.

"It's just like if somebody robs a bank and you're the getaway driver. You can get in just as much trouble as the person that robbed the bank," she said.

Chris Colabello hit a two-run home run, R.A. Dickey threw seven shutout innings and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Kansas City Royals 5-2 in testy matchup Sunday, taking three of four from the AL's top team.